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Ukraine looks to withdraw from a major international treaty on anti-personnel landmines to bolster its defense on the battlefield, where its troops are trying to hold off Russia's intensifying offensive.

President Volodymyr Zelensky, on June 29, had requested that Ukraine withdraw from the 1997 Ottawa Treaty that banned the production and use of indiscriminate anti-personnel mines. Though acknowledging the "complexities" that Ukraine may face in exiting such a treaty during war, he stressed that these explosives are an irreplaceable tool in defending the country.

"Russia has never been a party to this treaty and uses anti-personnel mines with extreme cynicism," Zelensky said in his address afterward.

Anti-personnel mines are highly controversial explosive devices that can be set off by small pressure, posing a grave long-term threat to civilians. Usually buried or concealed on the ground, they are used in warfare to incapacitate or kill the foe's personnel.